Michael Gurstein, aka MG – you wrote that telecentres can’t be sustainable. You pointed out that; first the location chosen – can’t support sustainability, funders never even thought about it, whatever ICT centre is sustainable - it is taken out of being a telecentre on the basis that it has no social angle – pointing out to cybercafés. As you wrap up, you note that people can’t pay therefore they can’t be penalized by asking them to pay or withdrawing support because they can’t pay, etc. I agree with most of your reasoning but I aver a little different for closing, and what needs to be done for the future, as I say in what follows:
Telecentres can be sustainable. But 'we' promoting them must change the way we see them first. We must also free ourselves from founding thinking – call it trap, for indeed times have changed and change is bound to continue anyway, so it is not for options that ‘we’ change with it or die. I would like to point out only one example, to explain myself out; that’s, people’s crack about content. It surprises me indeed; I fail to justify monies spent in so called - elusive - local content programs for the rural friends – even up now!
